Watch band terminal



Nov. 27, 1951 A.-PINSON WATCH BAND TERMINAL Filed Oct. 1'7. 1950 IN VEN TOR.

Patented Nov. 27, 1951 WATCH BAND TERMINAL- Alfred Pinson, Stamford, Conn.,. assignor to Apex. Accessories. 00., Inc., Greenwich, Conn.

Application October 17, 195.0,. SerialNo. 190,452;

4' Claims. (01. 24-241) My invention relates to terminals for wrist bands of the type disclosed in li'atentv No.. 2,557,683, June, 19, 1951.

The object of the invention is to. provide a terminal that will. secure, to av band a watchprovided with rings or eyeletsfor attachment.

Another object of the invention is: to provide terminals for wrist band ends,. the. construction of which terminals harmonizes; with the wrist band of which; they form a part. A furtherobject of the invention. is to provide a terminal that can be pre-assembled. completely before. attaching to. the end of? a band. This: eliminates the necessity of stocking; bands-complete with terminals, as they can. be attached to any type of band as disclosedin my application No. 99,931, filed June. 18, 1949.

In the, appended drawing forming part. of this application,

Figure 15. is a bottom-up plan of the terminal with the slide moved to clear the pin, the attached band being outlined by dash and dot lines;

Figure 2 is a vertical section, on line 22, Figure 1, with the pin swung to v upright or open position;

Figure-3 is a similar section on line 3-3, Figure 1, the pin being shown inlocked position;-

Figure 4 is atransverse section on line 44, Figure 1', with thepin in the same position as; in Figure 2-;

Figure 5 shows asect-ion similar to that of Figure 2 providing an additional feature not shown in Figures; 11 to; 4; inclusive;

Figure 6 is a plan of the inner face of the base plate; and.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the stud for the slide.

Referring to Figures 1 to 4 inclusive and Figure 6, the base plate In is formed of two spaced symmetrical longitudinal portions II, the contours of which are similar to the contour of the liners used for the chain, for which the terminal is to be used. The two elongated portions II are bridged by a central part I3 co-planar with the portions I I and disposed to one side of the transverse axis of the base plate I0 to provide a gap between the two portions II on the opposite side of the axis. The central part I3 is provided with an aperture I4 to engage a rivet for pivotally connecting the plate In to the central liner of a chain section shown in dash and dot lines in Figure 1.

Each of the elongated portions II has a lonthe; portions I-I near the end farther removed from the: portion I3 is slightly enlarged toform a. spherical protuberance I6. merging with the longitudinal protuberance I5. One of. the spherical protuberances I5. has a cut-out II through which passes a pin t8, the spherical head I9 of. which pin. bears in. the. protuberance It. The cuteout I1 is. directed. towards the opposite portion, I. I; of the plate; It); so, that. the pin, can span. the gap between saidportions. H (see Figure 1.) The portion. H at; the; protuberancev I6: has; a bendable lug 2i) extending from the. plate,- into the gap (see Figure. 6):, which lug is bent over after the. head I9. is in the protuberance I6, as illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 4, thus looking, the pin withinv the protuberance I6, although permitting it to, swing in thecut-out I! to span the gap; It will be noted that the pin I8 swings on the outside of. the base. plate It}.

The rotuberance: I6 on the: other portion I-I also has a cut-out 21 to? receive the free end of. the pin. I8 when the'same.- spans the gap. To-

lock the: pin in the position, asindi'cated in Fig-- ure. 1, a slide: 22' is mounted on: the; outside, of the-longitudinal.protuberance !-5 of the'said portion U, which receives the freev end of the pin I8. The slide 22, isrproyided with a stud 23 (see rising; from theplate; while. permitting it to slide on said. protuberance I5 within the'slot 24 provided. therefor... A. spring. 25; is cradled in the protuberance I5 tomove normallythe slide across;

the cut-out 2| of protuberance I6 thereof and thereby prevent the pin from moving on its pivot I9.

The contour of each longitudinal portion II is similar to the contour of the liner of the chain it is to fit, and in consequence it can be equipped with the same type of covers 26 and with the same means of attachment 2'! as provided for the chain. The height of the outward longitudinal protuberance I5 is substantially equal to the height of the network of the articulation parts provided under the liners of the band.

Since the pin I8 is normally disposed in close proximity of the wrist, the pin I8 cannot open even if the slide 22 is by accident cleared of the pin end, as shown in Figure 1, but, if desired, the pin I8 may be articulated by a helical spring 28 (see Figure 5) cradled in the elongated protuberance l5 with one end of the spring anchored in an axial bore 29 in the head IQ of the pin I8, while the other end of the spring 28 is anchored after proper torsional tension to a lu 3|] bent over as shown in Figure 6 and forming part of the base plate It). The torsion of spring 28 may be made so as to maintain the pin normally in closed position, as indicated in Figure 1, or to maintain it in a normally upright position, as shown in Figure 4.

As shown in Figure 5, the helical spring 28 is torsioned to maintain the pin in an open position. This additional feature ofthe spring 28 further assures the improbability of the pin I8 28 is as shown in Figure 5, the tendency of the said spring is to turn the pin to open position, but in view of the fact that the slide 22 bars it, the torsional tension of spring 28 holds the pin tightly against the slide and, therefore, prevents the accidental displacement of said slide.

I claim:

1. A watch band terminal comprising a plate having a gap at one end, a pin pivotally connected to the plate to span the gap, a helical spring having its ends connected to the plate and pin respectively to turn the pin on its pivot by the torsional tension of the spring, said plate having means at the gap to receive the free end of the pin when the pin spans the gap, and a spring actuated slide to lock normally the free end of the pin to the plate.

2. A Watch band terminal comprising a plate having a gap at one end, a pin pivoted to the plate to move across the gap, a helical spring anchored with one end to the plate and with the other end to the pin at the pivot thereof to turn the pin on its pivot across the gap under the torsional tension of the helical spring, said plate having means at the opposite edge of the gap to receive the free end of the pin when the same spans the gap, and a spring actuated slide on the face of the plate to lock normally the free end of the pin to the plate when the said pin engages the free end receiving means.

3. A watch band terminal comprising a plate defining two elongated members bridged by a middle portion disposed towards one end of the plate to provide a gap at the other end of said plate between said members, each of the said elongated members having a longitudinal cradle of semi-circular cross-section co-axial with the elongated member and accessible from the same side of the plate and bulging on the opposite side, a pin pivotally mounted near the end of a cradle proximate to the gap and projecting through the cradle and adapted to span said gap on the side of the plate where the cradles bulge, a helical spring in the cradle where the pin is pivoted, said spring having one end thereof engaging the pin at the pivot, the other end of said spring being coupled to the plate, said spring being adapted to be torsionally tensioned to turn the pin" across the gap, a slide mounted on the bulge side of the other cradle, and a spring in the cradle engaging the slide to move the same across the pin when said pin spans the gap to 'lock thepin to the plate, said middle portion having means for connecting it to a band link.

4, A watch band terminal comprising a plate defining a pair of spaced longitudinal members bridged by a .co-planar portion disposed towards one end of the plate to provide a gap in the plate between said elongated vmembers and the bridge portion at the opposite end, each of said elongated members having a longitudinal cradle of semicircular cross-section co-axial with the elongated members and accessible from the same side of the plate, each cradle bulging on the opposite side of the plate, a pin having an enlarged end pivotally mounted near the end of a cradle proximate to the gap and projecting through the cradle and adapted to span said gap on the side of the plate where the cradles bulge, said plate having a tongue engaging the enlarged end of the pin to permit the pin to turn without moving longitudinally, a slide mounted on the bulge side of the other cradle, said cradle having a cutout to receive the free end of the pin when same spans the gap, and a spring in the cradle engaging the slide to move the same across the cut-out to prevent the pin from moving on its pivot, said co-planar portion having means for connecting it to a band link.

ALFRED PINSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 24,362 Wallack June 7, 1859 267,112 Sanderson Nov. 7, 1882 359,929 Kinsley et a1. Mar. 22, 1887 872,691 Seidl Dec. 3, 1907 1,126,488 Koski et al Jan. 26, 1915 1,307,251 Gorman June 15, 1919 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 13,609 Great Britain Aug. 28, 1889 

